The Irreplaceable
by Prisoners of the Muse
Summary: Its been years since the digital world called for its protectors, but things are starting to happen, things that lead the digidestined to believe that the world might not be as peaceful as they'd thought.TAI/MATT DRAMA/ANGST vague summary is vague, sorry!


**AN**: well, well, well. I must admit, I never expected to see myself back here, in the Digimon fandom. And with a collab fic too! Honestly, a few firsts for me. This is stars in bloom, as the writer, and Sparkyy as the plot master and slave driver. (We both have our own accounts here, but seeing as this is a collab piece… and more might be coming seeing as our muses are completely insane, we have our own account) It's a match made in hell, and as such, we bring you a Taito fanfiction. A bit of new blood to an old, clichéd fandom. –cackles-

**Warnings**: boyxboy love, swearing, angsting, Matt being pissy about his hair, cute but evil digimon, NOT AU –omigosh-, and guys kissing guys… maybe, depends on how nice we feel like being OHOHOHO 3

Oh, also, I use the English names over the Japanese names… mainly because that's what I grew up with. However, you'll find mentions of their Japanese names… mainly since the nickname "Yama" is way too cute!

**Disclaimer**: We do not own digimon or anything else related to it. We are merely stealing the characters and using them for their own selfish gain.

**Chapter One**

In all honesty, Matt wasn't a morning person. Not at all. He liked sleep, he'd always liked sleep. It came from endless nights spent running around the digital world, grabbing a few minutes of sleep when he could. He'd come to value the concept of a good night's sleep, making sure to pass out by eleven at the latest, enjoying those few blissful hours in dreamland before he'd have to get up and deal with the bird's nest he called hair.

Tai, apparently, didn't see the need to honor the necessity of sleep, which was why Matt was currently sitting up in bed, his hair a mess and sticking straight up on one side, eyes closed and refusing to open any time soon, blankets pooled around his waist and chest bare in the summer heat, grumbling under his breath as an insistent pounding coupled the obnoxious whine of his vibrating phone.

"M'up," he grumbled to no one in particular, blindly fishing for his phone. His fingertips hit it, providing that final push the device needed. As the phone clattered to the ground everything suddenly became muffled. A hand seemed to push against his chest, lowering him back against the mattress as a childish giggle echoed throughout the room.

Matt's eyes shot open, suddenly very awake and very cold. His breath was ragged, the only sound in the quiet room, and Matt wondered why until the phone started buzzing again, the pounding no longer sounding. The blond instantly leaned over the side of his bed, scooping up the device and holding it to his ear, running a suddenly shaky hand through his hair.

"Hello?" he mumbled, stifling a yawn as he heard an exasperated cry. He winced as the sound from his phone also echoed through his apartment, glancing at the wall and wincing again as there was a thump and a yell from the other side. Tai had never been a very _quiet_ person. "Tai? What the hell? Its," he glanced at the clock, blinked at what the numbers indicated, and then grabbed the phone with two hands, nearly jumping out of bed and storming through the house, his voice an annoyed hiss, "two in the MORNING, Kamiya. I repeat. What," he reached the door, flipping the deadlock open, "the," he grabbed the doorknob and twisted, the hand holding the phone dropping to his side in favor of throwing the door open and thrusting his very annoyed face right in front of the sheepish brunet, "fuck?"

"That's not exactly repeating," the brunet whined, knowing very well that it was only Matt in the house, the blond wouldn't have stormed through his living room if his dad had been home, sleeping, and not pounding away at a keyboard in some office or another. He quickly sidestepped Matt, shivering as he entered the house and kicking off his shoes. The blond watched through narrowed eyes as the brunet made a bee-line for the fridge, rummaging around for food like he owned the place. For all the time Tai spent at the blond's apartment, he might as well have. "Why's it so cold in here anyways?"

"You have your head stuck in my fridge," Matt deadpanned, leaning against the counter as he watched Tai emerge triumphantly with a microwave burrito, smiling down on it like it was the best food he'd ever seen. Given what his mom tended to think was food… it probably was.

"Nono, not that," Tai said, marching over to the microwave and sticking his prize in, pressing the necessary buttons and leaping backwards as the machine roared to life. "You might wanna resuply your burrito stores, Matt," he said, grinning back at Matt before going back to watching his – Matt's – precious burrito cook. Just then, a shiver ran through Matt's body, and he wrapped his arms around himself, finally noticing that yeah, it actually was a bit chilly inside his apartment. "Seeeee, told you," the brunet chimed in, and Matt glared at the teasing chocolate gaze he was met with.

"Tai, what the hell are you doing here?" Matt tried again, walking over to lean against the counter next to his friend, silently thanking whatever deity was looking out for them that Tai was practically his own heater. It came from all the bouncing and movement the other teen did.

"Mmm," Tai murmured, suddenly growing still, and Matt glanced at the other boy out of the corner of his eye. The other digidestined had an uncharacteristic frown on his face, eyes staring straight ahead and body abnormally still. It caused a frown to pull at Matt's lips as well. He wasn't used to seeing the other teen like that. Sure, Tai wasn't always just a giant ball of energy, he had his calm moments… but this… this was different. "Just… this feeling, you know? Woke up a few hours ago, Kari was still in the digital world, parents gone… and…"

"What?" Matt asked, pulling out a plate for Tai as the timer went off. He quickly shoveled the burrito onto the dish and walked to the couch, placing the plate down and plopping down, allowing his eyes to slide closed as his body decided to remind him exactly what time it was. The couch dipped as Tai sat down, and Mat felt a hand on his shoulder. He allowed himself to be guided, not really surprised to find his head resting on Tai's thigh as the other boy leaned over slightly, basically inhaling the burrito while attempting not to get any crumbs on the boy dozing below him. Matt allowed himself to drift, his mind wandering away from the reason the boy was there, instead just allowing himself to bask in the fact that Tai _was_ there.

"It felt like something was… wrong," Matt was brought out of his stupor by Tai's voice, just noticing that the other boy's hand was now playing with his hair. He opened his eyes slightly, tiredly glancing up into Tai's face. The boy had his head turned, leaning it on a hand, elbow on the couch's armrest. He was staring out of the window, that frown on his face again. Matt had a sudden urge to lean up and kiss that downturned mouth, to try and bring back the smile Tai normally had.

It was a weird urge… and Matt was way too tired to listen to it.

"Wrong?" he prompted, ignoring how sleep slurred and deep his voice was. Tai glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, chuckling slightly at Matt's tone. "Wrong how?"

"Did anything happen?" Tai asked, tilting his head to the side. Matt could have sworn he saw a light flash from behind Tai's head, and was almost startled until he heard TK, Kari, and Davis' sleepy murmurs from the computer room. He probably should have gotten up… but it was… two forty five… and he was too comfy.

"Tai?" Kari's voice sounded, and the brunet's hand fell from Matt's hair as he tilted his head back, grinning at his confused little sister.

"Hey Kari, good trip?" he asked, and Matt was surprised to find one of Tai's hands gently resting on his chest, fingers splayed over where his heart was lethargically beating.

He just closed his eyes again, deciding to think more in the morning and just ignore the three younger teens suddenly disturbing his bubble of peace. He felt someone nudge his legs, hearing TK's amused voice and grunting at whatever he said, turning his head more towards Tai, trying to drown out the sudden noise they were assaulted with.

All he knew was Tai told Kari their parents weren't home, TK volunteered to walk Kari home and crash at her place, and Davis whined a bit until Tai told the young leader he could stay at their place as well, seeing as it really was too late to expect him to walk halfway across town.

Then, blissful silence, and Tai's hand was back in his hair.

The blond sighed at the touch, eyelids fluttering slightly as he tried to open his eyes again, his brain sleepily grasping at the question Tai had asked him earlier. The brunet merely chuckled fondly at Matt's obvious attempts to stay awake and leaned over, brushing his lips against his friend's forehead before moving out from under him, grabbing Matt's arms and hoisting him up. The blond stumbled forward, grumbling his displeasure at the action and leaning his head against Tai's shoulder, their chests and hips mere inches from each other. Tai gently wrapped his arms around Matt's waist and sighed, leaning his head slightly against the sleepy musician in his arms.

"What are we, Matt?" he asked softly, and Matt felt them swaying slightly, Tai leading him in slow, gentle movements across the living room, probably towards the nice, comfy bed that was still awaiting the blond. In response, Matt just grumbled, not even sure if he was actually trying to say words, or if he was just making noise in response to Tai's question. Either way, he earned a kiss to his neck, a gentle touch that made him shiver slightly. He opened his eyes slightly once they reached his room, and he let out a pleased grunt as he moved from Tai's arms, stumbling across the room and dropping unceremoniously into his bed, wrapping his arms around his pillow and hugging it to his face.

God that felt nice.

He was aware that Tai was still in the room, and as a light was flicked off, the blond summoned every ounce of his energy, turning over, sitting up, and reaching his arms out. He felt like, and probably looked like, a five year old asking for a hug. But as he grumbled again, mostly at his inability to open his eyes, he earned the response he'd been looking for. The bed shifted slightly as Tai climbed in with him, having shed his jeans and t-shirt in order to sleep in his boxers, much like Matt was only in his pajama pants. The blond moved against Tai, curling up against the teen's chest with a sigh, lulled into sleep by the gentle petting of his hair and the sound of another's heartbeat and breathing so close to him.

Well, the warmth and the fact that it was _Tai_ probably helped a little too.

He was vaguely aware of Tai murmuring something in his ear, the sound of echoing, childish laughter coming out of nowhere again, and he grunted, a noise meant to shut up that annoying as hell laughter and to get Tai to stop talking, for once, and let him sleep.

It was three when the blond finally slipped back into dreamland.

----

The bed was cold when Matt woke up, which was partly _why_ the blond woke up. If Tai had been so insistent on coming in, he could have at least made himself more useful as a blanket. Instead, the brunet seemed to have decided to book it.

Matt groaned, rolling over to glance at the clock, already knowing he wouldn't like what the numbers would say. Predictably, 6:42 shone out at him, blue and glaring and annoying, and Matt groaned, flopping back over and burying his face in his pillow. It was Thursday, he didn't have classes until noon, yet he was up before seven, _seven_ AM. And it was _all Tai's fault_.

Wanting the brunet to suffer with him, Matt fumbled for his phone, finding it and blindly dialing Tai's number, knowing full well that Tai was probably on his way to his morning class, if not already there and chatting with the professor or other students – why Tai had wanted early classes Matt could never figure out… although it probably had something to do with afternoon soccer. Bah, not his fault. Although, now that he thought about it, Tai leaving for his class would be perfectly justifiable, even if it did leave Matt without his human blanket.

And why did he care, anyways? It was _weird_, wanting Tai back as a blanket. Actually, it was weird that Tai had even been in his bed. Why the hell had Tai been in his bed? … Why had Tai even been in his apartment?

Matt forced his eyes to open as the phone finally started ringing, and frowned when a buzzing came from somewhere in his room. He pushed himself up, raising his shoulder to hold the phone next to his ear as he crawled down the length of the bed, finally glancing over and staring at the phone on the ground, the phone that was currently glowing, buzzing, and slightly moving on the wood. Tai's voice suddenly cut into Matt's ear, and he winced, reaching up and flipping his phone closed before reaching down towards Tai's, frowning at it.

The brunet was particular with his phone. He never forgot to charge it, and he never just _forgot _it. It was always on him, always, and the fact that he'd forgotten it…

The phone suddenly jumped to life in his hands, vibrating again almost violently, and Matt recognized the name instantly, flipping it over automatically, not really thinking too much of it.

"Kari?" he answered, getting to his feet and making his way out of his room, noticing absently that his brother's door was open, bed empty, and the house quiet. The reason why was quickly presented.

"Matt?" well, unless Kari had a sex change in the past few hours…

"TK?" he frowned, pausing to lean against the wall, his attention wandering as he glanced around the room. Huh, seemed like Tai had actually remembered to put his plate away last night. "Why're you up already? Didn't you only get in at three?"

"School, Matt," TK said, obviously amused by his brother's lack of thinking. It was obvious, now that Matt paused to think about it. "Why do you have Tai's phone? Is he still over?"

"No, the idiot forgot it," Matt said, fiddling with the phone strap – him, playing the guitar, all of them had one as a joke gift from Sora, but only Davis and Tai seemed to still use it – as a slight smirk crossed his face. "I could ask you the same question. Why are you using Kari's phone?"

"Davis called him fifty times from my phone with the same lame joke… Tai refuses to answer me anymore," TK said, and Matt swore he heard an indignant "What?! That wasn't me!" from the background. Apparently, Davis was still there. "And Kari's in the shower. She refused to go to school without one, kind of like someone else I know."

Matt nearly growled into the phone, but withheld the temptation. He was more mature than that. And it wasn't his fault he needed to shower every morning. He used a lot of hair gel to keep his style, if he didn't wash it out and restart the next day it would get gross and crusty. "Right. So, what did she need?"

"She wanted to know if Tai knew how long their parents were gone and- What? Davis, shut – haha, no – what? God!" Matt snickered at their bickering, moving into the bathroom and turning on the shower head. All that talk of showers…

"I'll get him to call her back when he comes to pick up his phone. You home for dinner?" Matt asked, placing his own phone on the bathroom counter as he leaned towards the mirror, pressing the pads of his fingers lightly against the slight bags under his eyes. Ugh, Tai would pay for waking him up. Twice.

"Yeah, cook for five?" TK asked, and Matt mentally did the math. Five. Him, TK, dad, Tai, and Kari. Definitely do-able with the amount of food stocked in their kitchen. "What? No, Davis, not you. Tai. _Tai, _you know. What? No! What are- did you hit your head or something? Get off of me!"

Patamon had obviously just tackled Davis in response to TK's pitiful demand, if TK's laughter, Davis' screams, the sound of a shutting door, and then blissful silence was anything to go by.

"Its manageable," Matt said as soon as TK seemed to be in a safe zone. His brother laughed a little breathlessly at that. "Were you invited for dinner or something?"

"Guilty as charged," TK laughed again, and Matt grinned, knowing full well how… strange the food could be at the Kamiya house. "Go take your _shower_ Matt, and try to be awake the next time Tai comes by."

Matt rolled his eyes and turned towards the shower, watching it steam up absently. "It was two in the morning TK, not my fault. And try not to get sucked into the digital world today? I don't feel like lying to dad about where you are if you're late."

"Yes mom!" TK sang slightly, chuckling. "I'll be there on time, promise. Bye Matt."

The blond just rolled his eyes again at his brother's antics, smiling slightly all the while. Finally, the water turned to the right temperature, and Matt slipped under the spray, sighing as all tension was slowly erased from his muscles.

He didn't realize how long it would be until he was that relaxed again.

Matt emerged from his shower, towel slung around his hips and another draped over his head, hands idly moving it as he slowly toweled his hair dry. Usually he'd jump right out of the shower and refuse to come out until his hair had become extremely well acquainted with the hair dryer, a comb, and hair gel, but today was different. Today he was waiting for a certain brunet to come back for his phone. A phone that had buzzed once more during his shower, this time with a text from Sora.

He waltzed into the kitchen, half-expecting Tai to be there, perched on his kitchen counter, demanding his phone back, as if Matt had taken it hostage or something. For a moment, he could almost see it, could hear Tai's voice, could see his teasing smile, and then it was gone. Replaced by broad shoulders and blond hair, and Matt felt himself grimacing slightly as annoyance set in.

"Dad," he said, not really a greeting, but close enough for them. Hiroaki turned, giving his son a half smile as he straightened his tie absently.

"Sorry Matt," he started, and Matt instantly knew the rest of the sentence. Something came up at work, won't be home for dinner, probably won't be home for a while, take care of yourself, buy food if you needed. It was always the same, and Matt didn't need to hear it. Not now.

"Save it," he narrowed his eyes at his dad, taking in Hiroaki's sad, almost knowing smile before he turned on heel, slamming the door to the bathroom behind him and leaning against the counter, letting out a slow breath of air as he stared at his reflection, forcing himself to calm down.

Footsteps sounded from outside the bathroom door, and a small tap followed soon after, as if Hiroaki was merely placing his hand there, not asking for entrance, knowing Matt wouldn't allow that. Matt found the corner of his lip twitching up slightly, despite his annoyance. His dad knew him, he could give him that.

"I really am sorry. I know we were supposed to have dinner together tonight, the three of us, I really do need to take care of something though," he sighed, and Matt pulled the towel off of his head, plugging in the hairdryer and fiddling with the on switch idly, debating turning it on to drown out the rest of what his dad said, or to actually hear him out. "Matt…" well, Hiroaki did sound pretty apologetic… the blond sighed and put the hairdryer down again, sparing a glance towards the door again. "I picked up breakfast for you, its on the table. Eggs. Even got some ketchup to go with it," Hiroaki said with a chuckle. Matt winced, waves of guilt washing over him. Ketchup and eggs, his and TK's favorite breakfast… and Hiroaki knew it. After all, he was the one who had taught them that strange trick.

And then, the footsteps retreated, and Matt spent some time mulling it over, chewing on his lip in annoyance before he shook his head, let out an angry grunt, and threw open the door, one hand keeping the towel on his hips as he ran the length of the hall, sticking his head around the corner to glare at his father as the older blond opened the door.

"I'm making dinner tomorrow," he practically yelled, causing his father to turn back, startled and a bit confused. "I'll… call TK. See if he can come over, just for a while," he felt heat rush to his face, voice trailing off into a grumble as he averted his eyes, his father's smile more than he could take at the moment. "So… make sure to be there."

"I will," Hiroaki said, and with that said he saved Matt any further embarrassment by stepping into his shoes and out the door. Matt made a face at his father's departure before shuffling back to the bathroom and moodily picking up the hairdryer, flicking it on and starting in on his hair.

Getting ready was a process that morning, more-so than usual. His class that day was music, an ensemble performance class that he happened to share with his band. And today was performance day. While other groups put on nice clothes and sat in a circle, playing some Bach or Mozart or some other classical piece, Matt's group had decided to bring one of their concerts to the small recital hall, and as such, a dress code had to be maintained.

After his hair was dried and mostly in place, he moved from the bathroom to his room, rummaging around his closet for awhile – and ignoring Tai's phone as it vibrated again, Sora this time, he didn't feel like dealing with the easily angered digidestined – finally emerging with a pair of too-tight black jeans, a tight long-sleeved shirt, and a loose t-shirt. He tilted his head to the side after he laid out the clothes, assessing them carefully as he mentally thought to what kind of make-up he'd have to mix with the style. Finally, he glanced at the clock, groaned at seeing it was almost ten, and shimmied into the jeans, throwing the shirts over his head as he made his way back down the hall, back to the bathroom.

Make-up was something Matt hated, and refused to admit he owned. He'd stolen his stash from Kari and Sora over the years, seeing as he refused to even think about buying the stuff on his own, and as much as his bandmates insisted that he, the lead singer and guitarist, _had_ to wear it, the first few times had only been after a rather extensive fight to get him into a chair long enough to cover him in the stuff. He picked up some lipstick, looking at it in something akin to horror as he uncapped it, taking some pride in the fact that it was black, and not some cherry red, before leaning towards the mirror, carefully covering his lips with it, nudging at the corners with his fingers before frowning at his reflection, hand automatically reaching for some eyeliner. He applied it with a steady hand, coating his eyes healthily with the stuff, the black a long smudge around the outer corners of his eyes. That done, he stepped back, tilting his head from side to side and taking in his appearance. He… looked goth… but Mimi had been right. His hair was too light, too carefully maintained for the look he was supposed to be achieving. As such, he grabbed some hair extensions – black – and carefully clipped them to his hair, spraying them and gelling them until they fit in with his natural look.

With that much done, Matt nodded at his reflection, shook his head slightly to make sure his hair wouldn't become too much of a mess, and left the bathroom, grumbling under his breath as he walked the length of the apartment, pausing at the door to the office as he swore he heard a voice, not quite as freaked out about it as he should have been. After all, the office held the computer, and Matt had gotten used to random voices coming from his computer.

"Matt! C'mon, I know you're home!" Izzy's voice… from the computer. Ah, probably needed to talk about something concerning the digimon. He really shouldn't be surprised by it anymore. After all, Izzy had a habit of using the digiportal system to hack into their computers whenever he needed to get ahold of them. Still, Matt frowned before pushing the door open, walking in and flicking the light on before flopping into a chair, taking in Izzy's shocked look for a moment before he remembered. Make-up. Outfit. Right.

"Its for a performance," he groaned, resisting the urge to rub at his eyes, not used to the way the make-up felt on his skin. "School, the band, you know," he eyed Izzy wearily, noticing the look of strain on the kid's face. "What's up?"

"Nothing pressing, really," Izzy said with a chuckle before glancing over his shoulder warily, as if afraid someone was going to come up behind him and slit his throat, or something. "Just…" he trailed off, frowning and glancing down at something on the table, Matt guessed it to be his phone. "Has… Sora called you yet?"

Matt nearly hit his head on the desk at that comment. Sora. Tai's phone. Three missed calls and two unread text messages. It was only a matter of time before she started calling around. But the fact that she called Izzy before him…

Matt glanced at his phone, flipping it open and wincing slightly as he saw he had two missed calls and a new text message. If Sora went through Tai _and_ Matt without getting an answer, she must have been _pissed_ by the time she got to Izzy. No wonder the kid was freaked out.

"Yeah, sorry, didn't hear it ring," he said before holding up Tai's phone for Izzy to see. "Tai left his phone here, tell me if you see him? I'll deal with Sora."

"All right," Izzy looked extremely thankful about that last statement. "And… Matt?" the blond glanced towards the computer screen, arching an eyebrow as he saw the slightly weirded out and worried glance Izzy was sending him. "_Try_ not to get jumped by fangirls on your way to class?"

Matt just rolled his eyes, closing the connection and walking out of the room, moodily shoving the two phones into a bag before he picked up his guitar case, shoved the breakfast his dad got into the fridge, and went out the door, shutting it just a little too hard as he realized it was eleven, well after the end of Tai's class, and the brunet still hadn't shown up for his phone. He gave his neighbor's door a good kick as he realized he also had a pissed Sora to deal with, running slightly to catch the elevator once a loud, angry voice started swearing at him and his "punk ass" from within the room. He smirked and waved as the door opened, resisting the urge to flip his angry neighbor off as the doors to the elevator slowly slid closed.

----

By the time Matt's class was over, he was officially in a bad mood, and he hadn't even dealt with Sora yet. From the moment he stepped onto campus he'd been swarmed by girls, posters he hadn't even known existed shoved under his nose and pens waved in front of his eyes. He'd had to fight, literally, to get to his class, and by the time he did his hair was a mess, his make-up was smeared, and he was ten minutes late. And then, as soon as he'd thrown himself into the room, slamming the doors against the girls that _wouldn't leave him alone_, he was pretty much pounced on and dragged into one of the practice rooms where his band members pretty much attacked him with hair spray and eyeliner. Where grown men had learned to handle eyeliner pencils like they were weapons, Matt honestly didn't know.

The music itself had been fine. No guitar strings breaking, no technical difficulties, and they'd managed to introduce their teacher to something other than classical music, even though there had been a violin solo none of them had really planned. But by the time class ended and Matt stomped out of the classroom, he was pissed. Not just annoyed, but thoroughly pissed. He was tired – because _somebody_ woke him up at two in the morning – being texted constantly by Kari and Sora – because _somebody_ had left their goddamn phone at his house and hadn't seemed to _notice_ yet – and he still had to deal with Sora.

"Matt!"

The blond froze in his tracks, flinching before turning around slowly, a look of growing horror on his face. There, running towards him, was a very familiar girl, a tennis racket in her hands. He raised his bag, using it as a shield as she angrily swung the racket as his head, not even thinking twice about it.

"Yamato Ishida! Answer your goddamn phone!" she shrieked, swinging her racket again, this time Matt had the sense to reach out and grab the handle, dropping his bag to the ground and grabbing her shoulder with her other hand in an attempt to get her to calm down.

"Sora! Geez! Stop for a minute!" he yelled, and it seemed to do the trick. She was looking at him like he'd grown three heads overnight, all fight draining out of her. "Tai left his phone at my house, and I've had a crap morning. Sorry!" he was still yelling, even though they'd already made a scene and Sora wasn't hitting him anymore. But hey, he deserved a little venting.

"Matt… I…" she still looked shell-shocked, like Matt'd punched her instead of yelled at her. It made him loosen his hold on her and step back a little, still watching the hand clutching her tennis racket loosely. "I never knew… this… this explains so much!" Sora exclaimed, looking a little too excited for Matt's tastes.

"What?" he asked, completely thinking that the girl in front of him had flipped her lid. "What are you-?" and then she reached for his face, and Matt felt a blush take over his face again as he hit her hand away, sputtering angrily. "NO! What? Sora! No! This-this was for-for my band! God! What were _you_ thinking?!"

Sora just blinked at the slightly flailing musician before rubbing at the back of her head and sticking out her tongue a little, wincing and trying to look cute. Matt just thought she looked like a demon.

"Nothing, nothing," she said, laughing and waving a hand at Matt. She then bent down and picked up the musician's bag, holding it out to him like a peace offering. He reluctantly accepted it, still staring at her like she was about to leap at his throat or something. "Tai forgot his phone? The dumbass," she growled, literally growled, and Matt found himself taking an involuntary step backwards. "When you see him, punch him for me?" she asked, resting her tennis racket against her shoulder and scowling. Matt took another step backwards, honestly fearing for his own safety. Sora could be scary when she wanted to be. "Idiot told him about… ugh!" she exclaimed, swinging her tennis racket in front of her randomly, Matt jumped back, seriously this time, putting a safe distance between them.

"About what?" he asked before he could really think about it, and by the time Sora directed her glare at him, Matt was seriously regretting pushing the conversation.

"Tai, the _idiot_, told my boyfriend about the hat story! The hat story!" she was waving her hands again, looking at Matt like he should think that was as horrible as she obviously did. Honestly, Matt didn't get it. The hat story? Did he even _know_ the hat story? And weren't there multiple hat stories? There had to multiple hat stories, she spent most of her childhood wearing one. "_I_ for one think he's just bitter about our breakup," she said with a sigh, suddenly seeming a bit depressed. Honestly, women and their mood swings. "He really needs to just let it go. I mean, you never held a grudge after our breakup, right?" she was tilting her head again, and Matt flinched slightly, giving her a small half-smile in response before glancing off to the side as she started talking again, still listening, but really just wanting to get away from her at the moment. He liked Sora well enough, she was his second best friend, after all, just when she got like this… she was extremely prone to violence. "But then again, it was a messy breakup… I just never expected him to be the jealous type! Right Matt?" she was looking at him again, like she was pushing for something, and why the hell was she constantly asking his opinion?

"Um… right," Matt said, holding his hands up in surrender. "Why do you have that thing anyways?" he asked, nodding in the direction of Sora's tennis racket. She blinked at him and then turned to the racket, jumping a little as if she just noticed it was there.

"Crap!" she yelled, throwing herself forward a little, hugging Matt loosely before jumping back, saluting with her free hand before running off. "Sorry! Tennis match! Call me when Tai gets his phone back, okay?" she yelled back over her shoulder, waving all the while and skillfully dodging the people in her path.

Matt just raised a hand, waving once before sighing and shaking his head, a fond smile crossing his face. His friends really were all scatterbrained idiots.

----

The train ride home wasn't quite as bad as his trip home, seeing as the only girls that actually approached him where a few teenagers his age, the rest being older women gossiping behind their magazines and girls about TK and Kari's age who were all clusters in groups, blushing and giggling whenever Matt so much as shifted positions or turned to look out the window. Honestly, the fact that the girls were his brother's age, _Kari's_ age, left a bad taste in Matt's mouth. It would be like Kari fawning over him, and that… just…

He shuddered and shot a glare at the girls as he finally, _finally_ reached his spot. However, instead of scaring them away, it only made their swoons and giggles stronger. Honestly, girls.

Getting up to his apartment was a little trickier than he thought it would be. It appeared that his neighbor had his door open, probably waiting for either Matt or TK or one of their "hoodlum" friends to wander past. He was like a monster, lurking in the shadows of his own home, just waiting for some poor, unsuspecting child to wander past before he jumped out. It made getting to his apartment door rather difficult.

Still, a quick glance to his cell phone showed him it was slowly approaching four, and dinner needed to be started. So, as daunting as it was, he had to brave his pissy as hell, child-hating neighbor in order to get inside. So, he hoisted his guitar higher up on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and stepped forward, just as his neighbor's door slammed shut.

He stared at it in surprise, mouth slack as his neighbor's enraged voice called out, cursing all pranksters and children and smart-ass neighbors, but Matt was already running, reaching out and snatching the little orange blob holding the door shut out of the air as he passed. As soon as he was inside his apartment he slammed the door and flipped the lock, reaching a hand up to rub at Patamon's head before letting him go.

"Thanks," he said, bending down to take off his shoes. Patamon took that opportunity to perch on his back, much as he usually did to TK. Matt was always surprised by how light the digimon was.

"Don't mention it!" the digimon chirped, still clinging to Matt's shoulders as the teen walked through the house, dropping his bag and guitar off in the living room before making a bee-line for the kitchen. He could hear TK and Kari's voices echoing out of the office, and carefully stepped around a napping Salamon. Honestly, why did digimon always choose to sleep in the middle of walkways? "TK said you might need some help."

Matt laughed shortly, pulling out his customary pink apron – gag gift, once again from Sora. She probably never expected him to wear it – and moving to the sink to wash his hands, Patamon still peering curiously over his shoulder, moving for a moment to dip his own small hands under the water, just in case Matt asked for help with anything, which he often did.

He was just starting to cut the vegetables, imagining that each little piece that he chopped at had a certain brunet's ever-so-annoying face, when the office door opened and Patamon detached himself from Matt's back, flying across the room with a happy squeal of "TK", as if he hadn't seen his partner for years. Matt turned a few seconds later, watching his brother catch the small flying digimon and hug him tightly, laughing heartily. Kari just chuckled and reached down to pick up Salamon, cradling the sleepy digimon in her arms, much like a mother and child.

"Thanks for the assist," Matt said, smirking at TK as his brother looked up and stuck his tongue out before frowning and giving Matt a look he'd become increasingly familiar with during the day. It was a mixture of "wtf" and something almost… thoughtful. Matt had come to fear it.

"Matt… just so you know… as your brother… I support you, no matter what you choose to do," TK said, sounding completely serious. So serious, in fact, that Matt had to chuck an oven mitt at his head, ignoring the blush on his cheeks that he was steadily getting used to.

"Shove it, TK, it was for my band," he grumbled, turning around and going back to chopping and slicing and slowly getting dinner ready. Behind him he heard the stifled chuckles of not two, but four voices, and he secretly plotted his revenge. "Make yourself useful, why don't you? There's stuff to be done before we can eat."

"Dad's not coming, huh?" TK asked, and Matt glanced over his shoulder to find TK glancing down, a sad smile on his face. Patamon was glancing up at him worriedly, his little paws fisted in TK's shirt. Matt sighed and sacrificed his other oven mitt, actually hitting his brother in the face this time.

"See if you can get away from Mom tomorrow, I made him swear to be home," he said, handing off some chopped vegetables to Kari, watching as she and Salamon selected the ones they wanted and mixed them into a salad. "How was the digital world?"

"Ugh!" Kari suddenly yelled, and Matt instinctively flinched away from her, watching as she threw her hands angrily down on the table, looking more annoyed than he'd ever seen her. "The digital world was fine, but Ken, Davis, Yolei, and Cody… ugh! First Davis and Ken suddenly had soccer practice, even though they said they'd skip for this trip! But _no_ they just had to go! And then Cody had to go to some kendo championship he'd forgotten to tell us about! And Yolei didn't even show up! Our first trip in months, and only TK and I went! And then my _stupid_ brother hasn't called to tell me if mom and dad are gonna be home!" by this point, she looked close to tears, and Matt just glanced at TK helplessly. Girls and crying wasn't his strong suit. Thankfully, his brother stepped up to the plate and went over, placing a hand gently on Kari's shoulder before Kari whirled around and hugged him, sniffling into his shoulder as Patamon tried to squirm out from in between them.

"Need a place to stay?" Matt offered gently, making a mental note to punch Tai the next time he saw him. Not necessarily for the annoyance he'd been presented with today, or because of Sora's plea, but for making his little sister cry in Matt's kitchen. The idiot would probably _want _to be punched after knowing me hade Kari cry.

"I'll be watching after her," Salamon piped up, nudging Kari's elbow gently with her head, prompting the girl to move away from TK and hug her digimon instead, allowing poor Patamon room to breathe. "So she'll be fine for tonight," the digimon said again, sounding determined, and Matt couldn't help but smile. It was at times like this, after watching TK and Kari interact with their partners, that he really missed Gabumon.

"I'll call around, see if anyone has heard from Tai," Matt offered, setting the timer for the rice cooker and taking a step back, taking in the food cooking in front of him. He nodded once and walked over to the two younger digidestined, raising his hands and ruffling their hair – or in TK's case messing with his hat – before walking towards the office, leaving TK to calm Kari down and trusting both of them enough to at least not burn down the apartment while his back was turned.

Matt plopped himself down in the chair in front of the computer, grabbing the mouse and jumping through all the hoops Izzy had told them about in order to pull up the message window through the digiportal program. An image of himself popped up on the screen, a small circle spinning in the corner as he waited for Izzy's response. He took advantage of the pause in order to lean forward, scowling at his make-up and rubbing at a splotch of black that had somehow made it to his cheek. He was just starting to fix his bangs when Izzy's face suddenly popped up, his own image shrinking down to a small square in the corner of the screen. Izzy blinked, Matt slumped backwards and averted his eyes until the young genius cleared his throat.

"You… uh… wanted something?" Izzy asked, and Matt could faintly hear clicking as the boy hammered away at his keyboard, probably fixing some world famous computer program for fun or something.

"Have you heard from Tai?" Matt asked harshly, skipping all pleasantries and finally letting his annoyance and worry for their old leader show through. This wasn't like Tai, he was just as attached to Kari as Matt was to TK. To spend a whole day not checking in with her or telling her where he was… it was unheard of. And as much as Matt trusted the brunet to take care of himself, Tai was an idiot with a penchant for getting himself in trouble.

"He still hasn't shown up?" Izzy asked, his voice echoing Matt's worry as he paused in his typing, actually directing his full attention to their conversation. "Sora called a while ago to complain some more about Tai not calling her back… I thought he was just avoiding her."

"No, Kari and I haven't heard anything from him all day," Matt sighed, running a hand through his hair in an attempt not to loose his cool. TK and Kari were just outside the door. He'd been staying level-headed all day, he could keep it together for a while more. "Can you call Joe and Mimi? I think Joe was going to stop by Tai's soccer practice, and Mimi just got in today, right?" Matt asked, watching as Izzy glanced over to where his calendar was, checking the date and nodding.

"Tai could have gone to pick her up," he mused, but neither of them really believed it. As distracting and ADD as Mimi was, even she couldn't keep Tai from taking a break to call one of them. "I'll give them a call though, you busy?" Izzy asked, as if asking why Matt couldn't call on his own. The clattering of dishes and TK's yell of "sorry!" along with some muted swearing and laughter from both of the younger digidestined seemed to answer that question, seeing as Izzy started laughing and shaking his head. "Have fun with that Matt, I'll call you in the morning, all right?"

"Right," Matt grinned back, appreciating the small mood lift. "I'll be up early tomorrow. School and all. If you get a hold of him, tell him to get his ass over here before I go out and drag it back here myself," Izzy grinned and gave him a thumbs up before the screen went dark.

Matt sighed and leaned back in the chair, allowing himself a moment's break from the chaos his day had turned into. Tai really knew how to get under everyone's skin, even if it was just disappearing. It was like that time, way back in the digital world when Tai had just vanished, sucked into that vortex. Even when they were in the real world, their lives still revolved around him, involved him so intricately that when he decided to skip out for a day, only missing a few phone calls, everything slowly seemed to spiral out of control.

Kari's laughter echoed from the kitchen, TK's excited babbling following soon after, and Matt let his lips twitch upwards slightly at the sound, glad that the two could manage to distract themselves, to encase themselves in a fragile but necessary protective bubble, achieving some semblance of peace. It was more than what Matt could do, and if he emerged now to tend to the food… he was certain that bubble would break.

So instead he just sat there, leaning forward until his head was in his hands, eyes scrunched shut as he slowly counted his breaths, letting the sounds from the kitchen wash over him, calming him down and soothing the anger Tai could so easily bring to the surface, even when he wasn't there to do it in person. TK laughed again, and it seemed Patamon was singing something, Salamon and Kari joining in a few seconds later. IT was like being in two different worlds, the world of innocence and laughter outside the door, the world that Kari and TK had formed with the new generation, and the world of worry and anger inside the office, through the computer to Izzy's room, through the phone to Joe, Mimi, and Sora. The original digidestined.

He glanced at the picture next to the computer, of each one of them when they were younger, posing with their digimon and their friends, smiles triumphant but tired, clothes a little tattered through their journey. There was Sora and her helmet, Matt in that green sleeveless turtleneck, Joe with his emergency bag, Mimi with that giant pink cowgirl hat, Izzy with his computer at his side, TK pressed to Matt's legs with that goofy green hat plopped on his head, Kari with that camp whistle she always had, and Tai… Tai with…

Matt frowned, picking up the frame, glancing down at the picture and slowly, carefully tracing each of their faces, taking in every detail and digging through his memories back towards that day. He was so certain that… but then… why…

"What the hell?"

----

**AN**: Reviews, they feed my soul and my muses… and the faster you feed my muses, the faster the next chapter will come out (and might make Sparkyy not beat me for not erecting a temple in her honor, complete with human sacrifices… I MEAN… ITS COMING! JUST SLOWLY!)

… um… read and review? :3


End file.
